Would the real members council stand up. And get out of the way

Only six of the 14 council members voted for the new MOI on April 17. All 14 were in favour on April 28. What a difference the threat of government action made.

Telford Vice | Cape Town

CSA’s members council has changed its mind about revisions to the organisation’s constitution three times in less than three weeks, but on Wednesday it voted unanimously for the amendments.

On April 10, in the wake of weeks of infighting, the council — CSA’s highest authority — agreed to the new memorandum of incorporation (MOI), which would enshrine a majority independent board. On April 17 it backtracked, prompting government to trigger legislation that would have seen South Africa’s teams withdrawn from the international arena. On Sunday the council, no doubt feeling the mounting pressure, went back to its first position and used a legal mechanism that gave it 48 hours to ratify its decision.

But, based on what happened between April 10 and April 17, that meant little. So it was a solid sign of progress when, in a document dated Wednesday and seen by Cricbuzz, all 14 members of the council formally approved changes only six of them had supported on April 17.

Cricbuzz understands the new board will comprise eight independent directors, five non-independents and two senior CSA staff members. But the council may have won an important concession in that the president, it has been learnt, will come from its ranks. It had been expected the board would be led by an independent.

That can’t take the shine off a bright new day for South African cricket, which will be on a significantly improved governance footing when most of the seats on CSA’s board aren’t reserved for members of the council. That is the current model, and it has led to years of unchecked mismanagement and ethics failures.

“We have now reached the stage where we can move to complete one of the outstanding issues of our mandate, which is to hold the annual general meeting,” Stavros Nicolaou, CSA’s interim board chairperson, was quoted as saying in a release later on Wednesday.

Not that all the hurdles have been cleared. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) is implacably opposed to independent administration and has the power to suspend CSA. It might try to do so despite admitting defeat and passing the buck back to government in September after being tasked by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa to help resolve CSA’s governance problems.

But SASCOC isn’t CSA’s problem, as an insider said on Wednesday: “The minister must deal with them.”

First published by Cricbuzz.